Royal Hours
by Waiyi
Summary: Toph chose to go through with her arranged marriage with the hateful two faced prince. Zuko had no choice but to marry the annoying, vivacious brat. Little did they know what they have in store for one another. M in later chapters. Explicit language. AU. Toko.
1. Rejections and Acceptances

(A/N): Hi. I'm alive. I'm near the end of my senior year, and I'm inspired so here we go. This is some what based of my favorite Korean Drama "Goong" or Princess Hours. I recommend this drama, and I hope you would enjoy my fanfiction. It is obviously AU, so please enjoy! Eventual Toko, and no flames, spam, or trolling please.

**Copyright infringement not intended. Belongs to Bryke.**

* * *

_**Royal Hours**_

_**by Waiyi**_

"Toph! Wake up!"

"Huh?mmmhhhh" Toph grumbled as she buried herself back into her covers. Hair splayed and sticking up all over the place.

"Get out of that bed this instant, you mole. You're making me late" said her little brother, who was a four-years-her-junior weirdo who wants to be addressed as _"The Duke"_. Seeing that she didn't budge, he bolted into her room, jumped up and body slammed her.

"You insufferable monster" Toph roared, jumped up,and then chased the little mongrol out of what little sanctuary she had in their tiny house.

The Bei Fongs, during the age of Toph's great to the whatever great grandparents, were fabulously wealthy, and had some influence up to her grandfather. As of now, her family is scrapping by, and harassed by loan sharks for money the Bei Fongs borrowed for the house's mortgage. As for her grandfather, he is now six feet under, and the family fortune all gone by some stupid relative gambling most of it away. Quite a change for the family; not that Toph mind, but she was tired of beating away loan sharks away from her timid father and mother.

Toph shuffled her way to the bathroom, washed up, put on her uniform, jazzed it up by pinning oddities on the school lapel, grabbed her bag, a piece of toast, and went to bike off to school.

Toph Bei Fong was a charming, spit fire, precocious, adventurous girl of 17. She was a slim, 5"4 girl with alluringly rare celadon green (a notable Bei Fong trait), long black hair in which she ties up the the standard pony tail, half framed glasses, pale skin, proportionate limbs, pink lips, an impish nose, along with a mouth that held a mischevious smile from time to time.

"Made it" Toph huffed, then noticed a lot of people crowding around three black cars with tinted windows drive into the school's courtyard. "Oh, great. They're here" Toph mumbled to herself as she locked up her bike.

Out of the car was Crown Prince Zuko, along with his entourage of snobs, and his bitch of a sister, along with her friends. Crown prince Zuko had a mop of hair that looked good on him, a cool air, a charming smile, gold eyes that could melt a persons soul, and a lean muscular body. For skills, he was a firebender, and was also trained in dual dao swords; there were also rumors that he was once part of the boy scouts, hinting survival skills. On another note, every girl melted at his gaze, and he had no trouble flaunting his charms.

Once the Crown Prince was out in the public, Toph could hear and see girls of various ages throwing themselves at the Crown Prince, as he gave the fakest smile she has ever seen. "Out of here" Toph thought to herself as she climbed stair cases to get to her home room. "Toph! Oh my god! The Crown Prince Zuko!" gushed her friends Suki, Katara, and Song, all three admiring his "charming looks" from the window.

"Oh no guys! I think you're brains have been vaporized by aliens!" Toph exclaimed, which earned her friendly shoves from her gal pals.

"Oh, shut it Toph" Song said "you're just jealous that you can't see what a dream boat Crown Prince Zuko is" in a dreamy tone.

"I notice that he is handsome. It is just the fake prick part I can't stand" Toph said in her sweetest voice.

Before her friends could retaliate, the home room teacher entered the classroom, causing other classmates to scramble back to their seats.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Stop preoccupying your minds with the Crown Prince, and act proffessionally please. Now, attendance..."

The day went by without a hitch; the standard English, Math, Science, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arts, Home Ec., Bending, Martial Arts and Gym went on. Well, not exactly without a hitch... Toph was known to be very mischievous, and being the typical wise guy when she's not always serious and wise; today was one of those days.

"MISS BEI FONG! WHY ARE YOU WEARING SWEATS INSTEAD OF YOUR SKIRT!" yelled one of her teachers, chasing her as she bolted around the building, dodging classmates, janitors, and leap frogging over random "caution: wet" signs. Toph finally came to a halt in the music wing, and sensed that she had lost her teacher for the time being. "Toph, you rule" Toph said to herself with a grin, and was about to turn to another direction until she heard two people in the practice room. To peak her curiosity, she inched closer to listen to the hubub. As she inched closer, she saw Crown fake Zuko with one of his bitch-of-a-sister's friends, Mai.

"Mai, my mother is becoming even more ill, and I'm obliged to get married soon to an arranged marriage my grandfather had set up for me. I know we had some thing between us, so I'm wondering if you would marry me?" Zuko said earnestly to the girl. After a moment of silence, Mai finally spoke: "No, Zuko. I have more important things on my mind. Some things that don't include being a Crown princess. Good-Bye"

With that Mai opened the door and left; Zuko tried to follow after her but then noticed Toph crouching down near the doorway of the practice room.

"Crap' Toph thought, then bolted from the music wing. "WAIT! COME BACK HERE!" Toph heard Zuko yell down the hall, chasing her, but then caught up, pinning her to a secluded hallway wall. Zuko inched closer to her face, fuming with rage in his eyes as he scrutinized her.

"How much did you hear?" he asked her.

"All of it." Toph said, remaining calm and cool.

"You know what happens to people who hear too much, don't you?" Zuko growled, smoke blowing from his nose.

"You don't scare me Zuko. Crown Prince or not" Toph said defiantly. She then pushed him away, and bolted out of the music wing.  
"Damn it!" Zuko cursed.

* * *

**Afterschool**

"Ladies! Guess what?" Toph said as they hundle around a spicy rice cake vendor.  
"What?" Katara asked as she plopped a rice cake in her mouth.

"CP Zuko proposed to the ice queen Mai, and he got rejected!" Toph said laughing. "The look on his face was price less. Now he has to marry some poor girl whose arranged to marry him!"

"Ouch! Harsh!" Suki said wincing. "How did you find out about this Toph? I thought you hated that, in quotes, 'fake jerk'"

"I do hate the fake jerk. Mr. Jong was chasing me down the halls because I wore my P.E. sweats instead of my skirt, and lost him in the music wing. Heard them talking in a private practice room, and tada, rejection to the pretty boy prince!" Toph smiled in triumph. "Well ladies, nice chatting but I have to get back home" Toph said unlocking her bike.

"Alright. Bye Toph" Katara, Suki, and Song waved bye to her, as she sped off.

Arriving at home, Toph noticed the house gates were open, and strange cars were parked in front of the house. "Crap" Toph thought, "loan sharks". Toph quickly climbed the stairs into the house, locked up her bike, and went in the house. As she entered she tip toed behind the men barking at her father and mother.

"Alright old man Lao, time is up. Where's the money?" asked a guy with too much pomade in his hair. The man was also accompanied with two rather burly men, holding rather dangerous weapons.

"We...I don't have the money. Please, give us more time" begged Lao on his hands and knees.

"We gave you enough time. Now either give us the money or we'll take your house" bellowed the burly guy towards the slick head's right. The men were about to close in on Lao and Poppy, until one of the men collapsed with a thud.

"Get away from my parents you creeps!" Toph yelled, still holding the rock she bent to hit one of the hefty men. After a few moments of swift tussling, the guy with too much pomade, and the two burly men were thrown out of the gates of her house. "AND STAY OUT!" Toph yelled in triumph. The men scrambled back to their car with both physical and pride wounds to cater to. As the men drove off, Toph noticed two rather surprised, well dressed men at the side of the gate stairway.

"May I help you?" Toph asked inquisitively.

"Yes. Is this the Bei Fong residence?" the older of the two asked

"Yes, how can I help you two?"

"We are from the royal household" the younger of the two said, flashing a special royal insignia. "May we talk to you parents, Miss Bei Fong?"

"Sure. Right this way" Toph said in a lady like manner, and led the men into the house.

After setting tea for them, the two men immediately went to business.

"As you know, Mr. Bei Fong, your father was a great friend towards the late King, the grandfather of the current crown prince. As promised, the great queen decided that it is best to keep the late King's promise, and go forward with the arranged marriage. Your daughter will be the Crown Prince's wife." they stated in a business like manner, and withdrew a large, silk lined rectangular box, opening it to reveal a jade bracelet carved with dragons and phoenixes, a half circular piece of obsidian with a triangle sticking out of the flat side with half a character, and a golden ring, intricately designed with Fire symbols, and mysteriously have a slot in it.

"I expect that you have kept the proof of the promise?" asked the younger gentleman.

"Of course!" Poppy said. She disappeared into her room, and came out with a matching jade bracelet, a piece of ivory with a triangle indent in it with another half of character, and a golden ring with Earth symbols. Placing it on the box's inner velvet lining, the older gentleman delicately slip the Bei Fong's ring into the royal household's ring into a perfect, complete one, along with the ivory and obsidian pieces; both pieces fitting together prefectly.

After a brief moment of silence, the younger gentleman spoke: "The Royal household understands that this will be a difficult decision; so we give you two weeks to respond to this proposal. Right now, we proved the authenticity of the promise, thus enabling the option of Miss Bei Fong to accept or reject this proposal"

With that, bother Lao and Poppy looked at Toph who was spying from the corner. Their eyes looked gently towards her, but all Toph saw in their eyes were the financial pains they tried to keep from her.

"Tophy, you don't have to give an answer now. You have two weeks bef-"

"I accept" Toph stated clearly; she then went into her room, and closed the door shut.

"Then it is settled. Toph Bei Fong will be wedded to Crown Prince Zuko" said the older gentlemen. They finished tea with her parents, then left the house an hour later.

The rest of the evening, Toph was huddled up in a corner of her room, leaning her head against the wall, think over about what she agreed to. She ignored her brother's call for her to dinner, and her parents gentle knocks to know how she was doing.

"At least now mom,dad, and the monster will live comfortably" Toph thought, then got up to quickly shower then went to bed without dinner. Tomorrow, she has a lot of explaining to do. _Damn it! Why am I the poor girl who has to marry that fake..._Toph thought as she drifted to sleep.

* * *

Toph woke up early in the morning. Solemnly did her morning routine with less vigor, and went out the door. Her unusual behavior earned her a strange look from her little brother, and an unheeded taunt of calling her a limp noodle.

Upon nearing her homeroom, she was blocked from the door by a male figure.

"To think this little spy will be my wife" the male said, which caused Toph to look up with defiance.

"If you think that I'm going to be all submissive towards you then you're wrong. Zuko" Toph said venomously. "I'm doing this to keep our respective grandfather's promises, and to save my family. So don't get any ideas of me liking you, or just marrying you out of pure greed". Toph then shoved him aside and entered her homeroom.

Zuko, at first, was shocked, then inwardly smiled. This_ is going to be interesting _Zuko thought, then started off to his homeroom.

* * *

(A/N): Okay, in this story Toph is 17, and Zuko is 21. The school is a special school where because of the special curriculum of having their students be well rounded, they stay longer, and have more opportunities in this world. I might slow down the pace in the next chapter b/c this chapter was to set the ball rolling.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions, and/or critiques, please review. No flames, spam, or trolling please.


	2. Son of a Mother Trucker

(A/N): Hi guys! Thank you for the reviews. Here's another chapter of Royal hours. Enjoy, and please review.

Copyright infringement not intended. Characters are the property of Bryke. Storyline is my un-patented idea.

* * *

"Oh son of a mother trucker!" Toph cursed to herself as she plopped down into her seat. After hanging her bag at the side of her desk, she buried her face into her arms. After a few moments to compose herself, Toph looked up to see her friends crowding around her desk.

"Toph, are you okay?" Katara gently asked with a look of concern on her face. Suki and Song stared at her with a worried look as well. Toph would always have a mischevous grin on her face, but today she looked troubled.

"Yeah, I'm fine...just a lot of things on my plate lately..." Toph said reassuringly as to not make her friends worried.

"...then...why did Prince Zuko blocked your way into homeroom?" Suki asked

"Just...he's just pissed off that I saw his rejection, that's all" Toph said with fake sincerity. Suki and Song left it like that, but Katara just stared at her in a quissical manner.

"You know Toph, you can always confide in me." Katara said. "Thanks Katara. I'll tell you when I sort every thing out" Toph said beaming a smile toward her best friend.

"All right every one, sit down so I can take attendance" Ms. Jun yelled as she rapt the white board with a meter stick, causing every one to scramble to their seats.

"Pass up your homework, then take out King Lear, and turn to Act 2 scene 1." Ms. Jun said as she started to write the day's lesson on the board.

After the morning classes, lunch began; Toph, Katara, Suki, and Song took out their lunch boxes and went over to a field to eat their lunches. As they sat down and ate, Toph felt a presence walk up behind her.

"I need to talk to you" Zuko said rather seriously. Toph looked toward her friends who gave her a puzzled look, sighed, then followed him. Zuko led her to one of the library's private work rooms. Closing the door behind them, Zuko started: "Miss Toph Bei Fong, as a fair warning, you don't know what you are getting into when you are married into the royal family. It is not the charming life that fairy tales depict. It is a life of suspicion, deceit, and lonliness. Are you sure you want to marry me?" He moved closer to her with is question.

"I have no choice" Toph deadpanned, unaffected by his close proximity. "I assume you don't have a choice in this matter either, Zuko. I can stand with or without your help. I'm doing this for my family, so just suck it in. You're not the only one sacrificing some thing. For you, it's your love Mai; for me it's my youth and potential love life signed off to you. Just cut the fake crap with me, and I'll get along with you."

After a brief moment of silence, Zuko decided to break it and the tension that was seeping in with it. "Well, I'm glad about one thing on this engagement."

"And what is that?"

"At least my fiance is not ugly and boring" Zuko said with a smug smirk.

"Yeah...I don't think I can say the same right now.I've always seen you with a plastic face, princey" Toph said "maybe later I can tell, but for now...its undecided. I have one question, if you like 'not boring' then what the hell did you see in Mai?"

Zuko's grin fell into an angry snarl. "Arn't you a blunt one...well, get it all out now, because doing that in the palace will put you in danger. As for Mai, she's different"

"...right..." Toph said, giving him a funny look; a cross between 'are you crazy' and 'are you kidding me'. "Well you have your weird tastes, and I have to get back to my lunch so...toodles..." Toph opened the door.

"Good luck on your lesssons" she heard Zuko say, then she left.

_What lessons?_ Toph thought as she went back to the field

* * *

After school, Poppy called Toph to come home straight away afterschool. When Toph got home, there were well dress women in black lapels, skirt, and pumps with a wide, red silk belt. "Hello?"

"Hello Miss Bei Fong, we are here to escort you to meet Prince Iroh and Queen Ursa. Please quickly dress in your best, and we'll take you to the royal highness's" The women said as they bowed to her. "Before you dress for your visit to your future in-laws, we must take you measurements miss to make your traditional princess outfit, as well as your wedding dress. If you please miss" said one of the women, as Toph held out her arms so the other woman measured her. After begrudgingly changing into a pink thick strapped, knee-length dress dotted with embroidered flowers with beaded centers near the hem of the dress and across her chest, white stockings with mary jane shoes, and having her hair hair pulled back and clipped with a flower clip (by her mother's wishes), she enter the car, and sat nervously throughout the car ride. She was lead to a large room that had plush, antique-looking sofas and arm chairs, with drapes pulled back from the windows and door way, a coffee table in the center, and side stands beside each arm chair, that held lamps. The walls were covered with tapestries, weapons, antiques, and portraits of the past and current royal family members. A woman wearing the same outfit as the first ladies she met, brought in a tray with a tea pot, four cups, and a plate of delicate looking cakes. After preparing the tea things, the woman stood up and silently left the room. A moment later, a woman younger than the ones Toph had seen before came in. "Miss Bei Fong, I'm lady Min. I'm here, for now to briefly teach you in court etiquette. When the highnesses come in, you much stand up and bow to them. Once they have been seated, you sit down. You must always address them as 'your majesty', and must always answer their questions truthfully, is this understood?"

"Yes" Toph said, nervously. Before Lady Min could give any more etiquette lessons, some one called outside: "Her majesty Queen Ursa, Princess Azula, and His majesty Prince Iroh has arrive!"

Toph then bolted straight up from her seat as she saw shadows approaching. _What kind of people are they? Will they be fake like Zuko?_ Toph thought as she saw a beautiful woman in her mid forties, and a man in his sixties enter the room in traditional regalia. "Your majesties!" Toph said, then bowed deeply at them.

The man chuckled at how stiff this girl was acting.

"Hello dear, I'm Queen Ursa, Crown Prince Zuko's mother. Please stand straight so I could get a good look at you." the woman said in a motherly manner, and gave a sweet smile at Toph. Toph stood straight as the queen circled her, eyes fully studying her. "Can't believe that it was only yesterday when I saw a baby picture of you from my father. Now you have grown into a beautiful young lady" Queen Ursa said with a smile.

"She's not as pretty as Mai, mother" Azula gave a cold response. "Besides, I wouldn't want her to be part of our family, she's a peasant and she has glasses, thus making the chances of a visionly impaired heir great, and tarnishing the royal blood. I wouldn't want that if I were you mother."

"Azula, behave yourself." Ursa snapped. "You must respect your dead grandfather's wishes. Toph is more beautiful that Mai in my opinion; she has more liviliness in her presence, her glasses make her look so endearing, and she has a more noble air than you as of now Princess Azula." Queen Ursa said, giving a stern look at Azula, then looked at Toph with a smile and took Toph's hands in hers. Azula fumed silently, glaring at Toph while Ursa smiled approvingly at her.

"Hello Miss Bei Fong, I'm Prince Iroh, the Crown Prince's uncle. Sooner or later, you'll be calling me uncle too!" Iroh said with a warm chuckle. "Now, let's have tea, shall we?" Iroh stated, then poured the tea himself. "This is my special blend. Do you enjoy tea, Miss Bei Fong?"

"Yes, I enjoy it very much, your highness. I also enjoy pai sho..."Toph said, trailing off the last bit.

Iroh looked at her with an agaped mouth, then turn to a grin. "Queen Ursa, I approve of this daughter-in-law! Such a rarity to find a young person these days who love pai sho and tea." Iroh said with gusto, causing Ursa and Toph to smile.

"Sorry, I must leave mother, uncle" Azula said abruptly. She bowed, then left the room fuming._ Who does that peasant think she is?_

"Alright, let's get down to business Toph." Ursa said in a business manner. "It is not a light matter to accept this engagement. Tell me first, why you agreed?"

"Your majesty...I...forgive my frankness, but I accepted this arranged marriage due to...financial troubles...I couldn't bare seeing my parents get harassed by loan sharks so...I thought this marriage could give ease my family's lives...I'm not doing this out of greed, just out of circumstances" Toph stumbled around, not looking the Queen in her eyes as she relayed the truth. "But! But my parents don't spend by blow their money, it is just financial troubles after we've been used by another family member...so..so...please don't judge my family for this" Toph said bowing.

"Alright, Toph. You've explained your circumstance, but I hope later on that this marriage with my dear son won't only be about money. We will soon be family, Toph, and I hope you will look past the reason of joining our famly for only money, and looked towards being an example for our country, a wife to the crown prince, a future Queen, and a mother to heirs. I hope I won't regret this decision of letting you into our family Toph, and paying for your family's debt. Is this understood?" Queen Ursa said sternly.

"Yes your majesty. Never for greed, and you will not regret this decision" Toph said bowing. _What did I get myself into?_ Toph thought again.

"Good. Now I must tell you your scheduale from now until the wedding in four months. The elders and I are organizing the wedding. You'll be taking princess lessons from Lady Min, and your own ladies-in-waiting from tomorrow until that day. Every day afterschool, a car from the palace will pick you up, and drop you off at the princess resident hall for studying; where you will do you home work and princess lessons, and then dropped off after that day's lessons are done. You will be having a traditional ceremonial wedding, and it will be broadcasted to the public, so please work hard for us. Please don't disappoint me Toph" Queen Ursa said, with a serious look in her eyes.

"Yes you majesty" Toph said, gulping.

"Now let's have tea and snacks! You must be hungry from school!" Queen Ursa said, switching back to her motherly side.

The three sipped tea, ate snacks, and talked.

"So Toph, do you know Crown Prince Zuko?" Queen Ursa asked as she patted her mouth with a napkin.

"Yes, your majesty. He's known throughout the school as a heart throb to most girls and certain boys" Toph said blatantly.

"And boys? My goodness!" Queen Ursa said with a giggle. "What do you think of my Zuko?"

"He's very handsome your majesty, but..." Toph trailed off with uncertainty

"But?...Oh! It's okay to talk freely, Toph. You won't be punished for telling the truth" Queen Ursa said gently. "I promise that no harm will come to you"

"Yes, you majesty. Crown Prince Zuko...acts...quite artificial and ingenuine at school. I do not know if it's my place to say this when I hardly know him, but from my encounters, he seems insincere...and distant"Toph said earnestly

"I see. You're very perceptive Toph. I feel that's the same way he is during parent meetings...Toph?"

"Yes , you majesty?"

"You can stop calling me that in private. We will be family, so call me Ursa for now, and mother after the marriage, okay?"

"Yes, your majes-I mean, Ursa" Toph said, the name strangely rolling off her tongue.

"Good girl" Ursa said with a sweet smile.

"So, Toph, how old are you?"Iroh said pouring another cup of tea for himself.

"I'm 17 years old, Prince Iroh" Toph said as she sipped her tea.

"Ah! Four years age difference is not that bad! I say Zuko is lucky to have you as his fiace" Iroh said smiling.

The three went on chattering, and having tea time; Toph later felt at ease with her future mother-in-law, and uncle-in-law that she started to chime in with talks of politics, diplomacy, public problems, philosophy, and the like.

"What a wise young lady, Queen Ursa. She has a strong sense of justice, and a keen mind to see through the dirtiness of politics." Iroh chuckled at the end of tea.

"I couldn't agree more, Prince Iroh. I feel more at ease about the future of our country now that we've talked to Toph." Ursa said beaming.

After the clock rang at the hour, Queen Ursa and Prince Iroh bid Toph farewell. "I'm sorry we can't spend more time with you, Toph, but it was nice spending time with you, and I hope we could do this more often after you join our family. Take care dear." Ursa said, hugging Toph, then left.

As Toph was walking to the car, feeling better about this marriage thing than before, she bumped into some one, and was about to fall back until that some one caught her. "Hello, my clutsy fiance. You're looking cuter today" Toph heard, then quickly scrambled out of his arms.

"Hello, my jerk of a fiance. You haven't changed a bit pretty boy" Toph said with a grin.

"Hey!" Zuko said, then grabbed her wrist and pulled her back."How dare you insult me?"

"I dared, now let me go. I need to get home" Toph said, got in the car, rolled down the window and stuck her tongue out at him as the car drove away.

Zuko then pulled his mouth wide open and stuck his tongue out at her. As she disappeared, he realized how ridiculous he looked, then pulled his fingers out of his mouth, and rubbed one of his hands through his hair. "How infuriating! She's making me act like a child!" Zuko said to himself. Mai wouldn't do these childish action, or display any emotions that would make him look ridiculous. She was always stiff and regal. Toph was not like Mai. Toph was the fourth woman in his life that was not scared to speak up to him. The first two were his mother and sister, the next was Mai, then finally it was Toph. A stranger who wasn't scared of his temper or the fact that he was the Crown Prince. She would act like his was a harmless tree when he could easily call on his body guards and hull her away.

Just as he was about to wander into his thoughts, he heard his mother call for him, and went in to the palace to help his mother in what she needed.

* * *

"Well you dork, what did the Queen want with you?" her brother asked, as her family pulled her into the living room, surrounding her to hear about her afternoon with the Queen after dinner.

Toph punched her brother in the arm, then began: "She wanted to meet me and know my motives for accepting the arranged marriage so hastily, so I told her the truth and she understands our situation. We then had tea time with Prince Iroh, and that was it. Nothing more. Other than princess lessons every day afterschool, and preparing for the wedding in four months. That was that, so night! Finished home work, already showered, now I'm off to bed. Sweet dreams!" Toph called out, and about to leap off the sofa before she was pushed back by her mother, father and little brother.

"Did you like them Toph? Will you be able to live with the royal family comfortably? You don't have to do this for us Toph; this burden is your mother's and mine, not yours" Lao said said with concern as her parents latched onto each hand.

"Queen Ursa and Prince Iroh were very kind to me; they rebuked Princess Azula, one of their own, for insulting me. I'll be comfortable there...I have to do this; it's a family debt and I'm obligated to help get rid of it." Toph said, then pulled away and went to her room, giving an exasperated sigh as she left.

"Toph! We-oh Lao, why does our daughter not listen to us, and dive head long to have the actions of a martyr!" cried Poppy, frustrated on how Toph wouldn't listen to her.

* * *

Toph stirred a little in the early morning as she felt herself being shaken awake, along with clusters of clicks and shouts coming from outside of the house.

"Hey, dork, you better get up. Now!" 'The Duke' said in an urgenty manner. The look of panic spattered on his face.

"What?" Toph said groggily, then furrowed her brow at the annoying clicking sounds and shouts coming from outside growing louder. Toph, still with bed head and her cinnamaroll pajamas, and with her once pig tails were lopsided, she walked out of her room, and headed straight to where the racket was from.

"Hey! Can you keep it down!" Toph shouted, still rubbing her eyes, giving a slack jaw look to where the sound came from. Some thing finally clicked in Toph's head as she mulled over the reason of the racket, then it hit her.

"Miss Bei Fong! Future Crown Princess! Can you answer some of our questions please?" a woman shouted waiving her mic towards her.

"Princess, how do you know Prince Zuko?" a man asked, holding out another mic.

"Tophy, get inside!" Poppy and Lao shouted as they tried to close the gates on the seemingly infinite number of reporters, and new/entertainment outlets.

Toph ignored her parent's orders, and ran to push the gates along with her parents. After a couple of minutes, they heard the click of the gate closing, and quickly locked the gates, and backed away to hear the utter chaos of banging and shouting of questions, along with the slight rocking of the metal gate.

Toph, Poppy and Lao quickly scurried into the house. Passing by a mirror on her way to her room, Toph came closer the to mirrior, and caught sight of what she looked like; gave an utter look of horror.

"GOD DAMN IT!" Toph cried out in frustration. A little bit of Toph hoped that being engaged to the jerk would mean heightened security and privacy as expected of the royal family; apparently it wasn't the case at all in the time being. Toph quickly washed up, dressed, and grabbed breakfast along with her bag. She noticed that the gates were still clamarous with the banging of new and entertainment reporters. Toph went to another section of gate behind the house, looked around, then did her secret specialty, she bent the metal wide enough to let her and her bike get through, then seal it shut, hiking down a hill to the main road to begin her pedle to school. "Princey is going to get a piece of my mind for not warning me about this..." Toph snarled as she pedaled.

Over in the palace, Zuko, Ursa, and Iroh were enjoying a lovely breakfast together. As Ursa picked up her tablet to read the news, after looking at the screen for a moment, her eyes narrowed in scrutiny, and then she dropped her spoon of oat meal and began to laugh hysterically.

"Mother, what's wrong?" Zuko asked, eyeing his mother warily as he bit into a piece of toast.

"Oh!...ahh...mmhhh...hahahahahaha...oh, my prince, the bad news is that information has leaked about your bride-to-be. Another bad news is that...oh...that they've taken an improper picture of your fiance earlier this morning" Ursa said trying to maintain composure, as she passed the device to Zuko.

There, Toph Bei Fong, donning on a button up cinnamaroll pajama top with the first two buttons unbuttoned, eyes squinting due to the combination of the lack of glasses, the quick exposure to sunlight, and the swollen-ness of sleep, with her hair in lopsided, long pig tails, and a slacked jaw to complete the ensemble. Zuko's eyes widened, and let out a small chuckle at this picture.

_"Whoever leak this information must be awarded"_ Zuko thought as he smiled to himself. So absorbed in his thoughts of getting back at Toph due to the spying incident, Zuko didn't notice his uncle stand up and walked beside him to look at the picture himself.

"I see you like your fiance Zuko." Zuko heard his uncle say, and snapped back to reality.

"She is an strong willed and some what reckless person, I give her compliments for that. However, that strong will and recklessness might harm both the family and herself. She should have controlled herself, and contemplate on her actions before she went out like this" Zuko said smiling, then went off to get ready for school.

As Zuko got into the car, Ursa talked to Iroh in private.

"Toph is a very capable girl, and has the personality of a great future ruler. Do you think I'm putting that child into harms way by fufilling her wishes to be apart of our family, Iroh?" Ursa asked calmly as she sipped her tea.

"Even though the palace is a very dangerous and lonely place, Queen Ursa, I believe that this girl would persevere, and rise up to be a great ruler. She also has the potential of being happy here; she seems to capture the Crown Prince's attention without the prince himself realizing this..." Iroh trailed off as he too sipped his tea.

"I hope my son won't act so heartless as to not let Toph into his heart. She will be a better influence on him, and I hope he soon realizes that..." Ursa said, then stepped away to go about her duties.

* * *

"HEY YOU!" Toph called out as Zuko walked down a crowded hall way, with students pointing, staring, and starting a wild fire of conversations among the student body about both of them. Zuko ducked, and tried to ignore the girl, when suddenly he was pushed to a wall, with both hands pinned to the wall in a vice like grip, and her face merely inches away from his. To Zuko's surprise, Toph had a surprisingly strong grip for a small girl. Toph then leaned in and whispered; "Why didn't you tell me that the whole freaking press would be banging at my gate at five in the morning" Toph gritted, with eyes for daggers at him.

"It was not my fault that the information leaked." Zuko said venemously through a gritted smile. He noticed one of her hands loosen its grip on one of his hands, which he then used the spare hand to hoist Toph up on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and began to speak loudly: "Ah! Good Morning Tophy! Yes, I think you looked endearing in that picture. Now let's get you to home room! Excuse us every body! Hahaha" Zuko said with a gritted smile, and ran up the stairs, with Toph kicking, scratching at Zuko's back, and screaming "LET ME GO YOU NARCISSISTIC LIAR! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR OPINIONS!".

"That's enough, honey." Zuko said menacingly as he seemingly "lightly" slapped her lower back playfully.

"Ouch! What was that for?" Toph yelled, angrily elbowing Zuko's head.

"Pay back, you little spy. Also for leaking about my rejection to the whole school" Zuko said grunting as he took her blows; after a while, he hoisted her down in front of her home room. "But I must admit, because of that picture, even though in some weird light my mother finds it endearing, I think we're even for" he said, giving her a fake smile before leaving. "See you later, brat"

"ZUKO! I'LL GET YOU..."

"You already have me, fiance." Zuko cried out smugly.

"OH YOU MOTHER FU-" Toph was about to curse, until she felt three pairs of hands tug her into home room, and pushed her into her seat.

"Toph." Looking up, Toph saw a very angry Katara, Suki and Song staring at her with disdain. "Why didn't you tell us?" Suki started.

"I was going to but I..." Toph looked at the hurt and angry looks on her friends' faces.

She has a lot of explaining to do.

* * *

(A/N): I always imagined Ursa to be a lively sweet heart. Also...here is where the attraction some what begins. Hehehehe :)

Please Review! And no spam, trolling, or flames please :)


	3. Getting Used to Each Other

(A/N): Sorry for not updating sooner. A little writer's block and had to tie up some loose ends in senior year, and orientation for college etc... Italicized words will be defined towards the end, but you are free to look them up to get an idea.

* * *

For part of the day, Katara, Suki, and Song ignored her until they could collect themselves from all the anger they felt towards the girl they thought they've known like the back of their hands; it was not until much later that Katara had kept it in long enough.

"Toph Bei Fong! Why didn't you tell us, your best friends, that you were getting married? No, not only marrying from some arrange marriage, but an arranged marriage to the Crown Prince of the country! "Katara went on a rampant rant, breaking between an Inuit dialect, Mandarin, Japanese, Korean, Cantonese, Vietnamese mix of frustrated choice words.

"Listen, Sweetness.."Toph growled, getting impatient with one of her ranting friends. "The cat slipped out of the bag before I could even tell you guys, let alone figure out how to say it. It's not an easy thing to just say 'Hey, by the way, I'm going to marry Mr. Artificial to get my family out of debt'. It's not exactly a fairy tale wedding, and you all know it...I feel dirty as it is marrying for money and status, you guys being angry at me is just making this worse." Toph said, folding her arms across her chest, and turning her head away from them. After a few moments, some one spoke up.

"How did you get into marrying him?" Song asked in a rather serious tone,

"My grandfather and the late King were best friends for life. They agreed upon the arrange marriage, and the late King's daughter, the Queen, and I agree to this because of...you know...so here I am, no longer on the market so to speak" Toph mumbled, feeling vulnerable when she was usually the strong one.

"Alright, Toph" Suki huffed, her face melted a little from anger to empathy. "We...we were being a bit insensitive towards your predicament. What are you going to do now? You can't go back on this, Toph. Every one is watching your every move."

"I know, I know...I'll figure this out on the way." Toph said. After a brief moment of tense silence, Song squished herself next to Toph in her seat, and gave her a one armed hug around her shoulders.

"Can we be your brides maids, Tophy?" Song said hugging her close.

"Nope. The Queen is planning it to be a traditional wedding." Toph said, smiling.

"How old fashioned! Well,I hope we are invited with a near front row view Crown Princess." Song said, hugging her even tighter.

"Well, I can try to get you guys in as V.I.P. if I can convince the elders..." Toph trailed off with a cheshire cat smile, happy that her friends have forgiven her for the time being.

"Our sly Toph, you're so cute!" Song cooed in a demeaning way, making Toph frown as she pinched her cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Get off me Song." Toph said, pushing her deranged friend away from her.

Toph loved how her friends decide with these things without a lot of drama; just clear cut say the problem and quick resolve. Clean and simple, what Toph likes.

One thing that Toph didn't like, however, is that either a lot of girls and occasional guys acted rude towards her, or a lot of nice people were teasing her in a playful manner. It was either "Boo, you whore! You stole the prince from us!", "You're not good enough for him; he was meant for Mai", or when her sculpture of twin dao swords with a blue spirit mask was finally finished, girls like Ty Lee or Meng would tease her, beaming at her and saying "Is this for your fiance? You know Prince Zuko is a master at twin dao swords, right? This would be a perfect homage to your sweet heart" or acquaintances would ask to visit the palace with her to see her handsome fiance. _Disgusting_ Toph thought as she just grinned and bared with it.

Other than being cheered on by new fan girls and boys, and being booed at by some of Zuko's fans, the day went on relatively normal except when Mai just shoved past her. The air around her seemed tense and cold for a moment, then back to normal as Mai walked away...

* * *

Zuko, upon his arrival to home room was surrounded by friends, classmates, and fans. Many guys smiled cockily at him and nudged him in his sides; "Zuko, never knew you were into cradle robbery! Good job man, she's the cute and feisty Earth bender in higher third level year, and the top Earthbender in the world." growled a random classmate he never bothered to want to be acquainted with.

"Yes, Shim. If you haven't noticed, the paper said this was arranged. So I would like for you to retract your statement" Zuko quipped with a clenched smile, and then walked toward his seat.

"Dude, why the hell didn't you tell me you're going to get married to that prodigee of a child?" his friend Sokka said wildly as he plopped into the seat next to Zuko.

"What is there to tell? I got rejected by Mai, and now I going along with my duties as a prince by marrying my betrothed, which happens to be Toph Bei Fong." Zuko said, a little upset.

"Dude, don't get upset. Toph happens to be best friends with my sister; from what I've gathered from hearing them spend time together, and some person hang outs myself, she's a wise and fun girl. She's not easily influenced, and she's a trust worthy and loyal person once you get on her good side. The only bad side is that she's quite blunt."

"She doesn't like me, that's what she said right off the bat." Zuko said, drumming his pencil on the table.

"Well, let down that wall of artificial emotions with her, like you've done with me, and just try to get along with her. You can not, I repeat, can not win a stubborness battle with this girl, trust me. She will bend you like extreme yoga if you piss her off or don't see her logic, or get on her bad side." Sokka said, acting very metro.

"Why would I want to get her to like me? It's fun pissing her off." Zuko said, giving a slight smile to what happened earlier that morning.

"Man, she'll have your heart in the palm of her hand before you even know it." Sokka said, before getting punched in the arm.

"Sokka?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up" Zuko said curtly before he resumed his sulking. Some times Zuko wished the day would end much earlier; today was one of those days.

* * *

Afterschool, both Toph and Zuko were surrounded by body guards and ushered into a blacked out luxury Mercedes-Benz.

"Hey Zuko, what's going on?" Toph said as she clumsily yet gracefully landed onto a seat next to Zuko.

"The plan is that we're going to the Palace. You'll be dressed in your clothes for princess lessons, and I'll just be going along with my daily scheduale after escorting you to the building where you'll have your lessons." Zuko droned in a business-like manner.

After a twenty minute car ride, the car went past many gates before finally arriving at the palace. The palace Zuko was referring to were not the historical palaces that the past Royal family used to live, rather the Royal family made some of them into public exhibits, and lived in more modern and luxurious buildings with traditional style buildings, pavilions, pagodas, gardens, training grounds, and ponds dotted around the grounds. Toph followed Zuko as she marveled at this beautiful place.

"That will be the place we'll be staying at after it's renovated" Zuko said, pointing towards a rather elegant building that was far off from the small hill they climbed.

"Of course, we'll be living in separate rooms until you are of age. Not that I'm one for rules" Zuko said rather mischeviously as he jokingly eyed her up and down.

"You're such a pig." Toph said, punching him in the arm.

"Now that's not princess-like at all. You need these lessons more than I thought!" Zuko said in fake surprise. Earning him a smile from her before another punch landed on his arm.

Zuko escorted Toph to one of the main buildings where her personal maids were to help her into her outfit; Toph refused to come out.

"You'll be late for your lessons, dearest." Zuko called out with fake affection towards the door she was behind of as he straightened up the armani suit he changed into.

"I'm not going to let you have the satisfaction of seeing me like this, pervert" Toph said in a menacing tone. Zuko disreguarded what she called him.

"You're not only making yourself late, but you're making me late, Toph. Get out of there! I'm sure the maids can't stand the ugly for so long."

With that, Toph busted the door open, and marched up to him. "I'll show you ugly!" Toph cried before stomping her feet on top of his with the maximum of force she could muster.

"Oh Fuck Toph!" Zuko cried out, clutching his injured foot with a hand. "I was just...kidding..." Zuko trailed off as he caught a good look of her.

She was dressed in a colorful silk _hanbok_ that made her look radiant and 's long hair was pleated into a long braid, tied with a _d__aenggi_ at the end of the braid; her bangs were pleated back with a elaborate jade and tourmaline _baetssi daenggi _crowning the near front center of her hair line, with _cheopji_ pinning the sides of her smaller braids. The _j__eogori_ was a very soft yellow with a red on top of white collar printed with gold design, with a red ribbons closing it. The _Chima_ was royal blue and embroidered with gold designs near the hem under a vibrant red one with similar designs. She wore_ unhye _with silk embroidered socks; her face was clean, innocent and donning on the mischevious look that made her attractive in a dangerous way. Her mouth curved impishly, nose was small and straight, and her eye brows were dark and curved to match her expression of trouble. The most alluring feature she had were her eyes; they were large with the color of light jade or celadon, some thing Zuko never seen before, eyes that look like they can see even the most inner depths of a person's soul; they were mesmerizing, and even more endearing as she wore her glasses.

"What are you doing gawking? I'm late, remember?" Toph said shaking his face in her hands, causing him to snap out of it.

"Yeah. I'll..I'll take you there, just don't touch me again...I wasn't gawking..." Zuko said gruffly, turning around to show her the way while thinking what was all of that about.

Zuko took her to one of the traditional looking buildings, and left her there acting stranger than usual. _What a weirdo _Toph thought as she entered the building with her personal maids following her. As she took off her shoes, a woman around her late 20's came out of the building.

"Welcome to the Literary Hall, Crown Princess." The woman said with a deep bow. "There is a limited time to prepare you Princess. I shall try the best of my ability to teach you properly. Follow me please." she said respectfully, and guided Toph through many wooden sliding doors until they came into an open place with natural sun light shining through the windows. Toph took a seat on the seat cushion, while the lady bowed to her once more before sitting herself on the ground. "Bring the Crown Princess her education materials." The woman commanded her personal maids, in which they scurried silently out of the maids came back with four stacks of ten books, an instrument, a brush and ink stone set, and a table that had an elaborate tea set. After setting the items down, the maids sat in the corner, with their heads looking down.

"These materials are what you need to have memorized up until your wedding day and beyond, Princess." The maid explained.

"Oh my pho" Toph sighed, sensoring her language for her 'teacher' as she saw all the books, especially the huge one that her apparent teacher held out to her; the book was telephone book size in thickness.

"We'll be starting Princess." Her teacher/instructor said, and so it began. The nation's history (political, social, economical), the common people's view of the royal family from its founding, the royal family history, each ancestor and their achievements, politics, government, foreign policy and diplomacy, tea ceremonies, confusious teachings, different philosophies that symbolizes the Royal family, balancing the nation's constitutional monarchy, and the list of things went on and on, even to the small details of the Crown Prince himself. Manuals, more like journals of successful queens, on to how to be a good wife, mother, and queen were stacked onto her studying materials, as well as a second instrument. At the middle of that session Toph was mentally exhausted; she repeated the mantra "it's for mom, dad, and the little monster" as she restrained herself from bolting out of the classroom from hell.

The instructor finally gave her a break after she was able to recite the history of the Royal family perfectly, as well as the tea ceremony.

"Crown Princess! Where are you? It is almost time to get back to your lessons! Crown Princess, please come out!" her personal maids called out, running around the building to find her. Toph smiled in delight as she hid behind one of the stone pillars of the foundation, and was undetected by her maids; Toph slowly back up and notice a presence behind her. Before she could turn around, the figure leaned its head next to hers; "So, why are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding, just extending my break a little to get some exercise" Toph said pouting, and then elbowing Zuko in the stomach. "Why are you sneaking up on me? Don't you have your 'princely duties' to attend to?"

"Yes, I still do, but I have a little time to spare before the next event." Zuko groaned, rubbing his stomach. "I was about to give you this and call it a truce with this little war we're having," Zuko said dangling a translucent bag with an assortment of colorfully wrapped chocolates, "but since you've elbowed me, I guess the war is still on my fiery little bride" Zuko said taking the bag out of her view. After hours of studying, Toph, begrudgingly, needed some sugar to stimulate her brain activity. "Fine, be stingy Crown Prince. I really don't care." Toph said, walking away. Toph was soon caught by her personal maids, and was quickly escorted into the study room. Toph was in mid calligraphy lessons when some thing was tossed into the window, causing her instructor to stop the lesson midway. The instructor quickly went over to what was thrown in, and saw a sticky note on it. "To: Crown Princess Toph From: Zuko" Her instructor read the sticky out loud and inspected the bag.

"Princess Toph, the Prince has given you a gift. You may have it after this lesson." the lady said, giving her a little smile before returning to her strict stature.

Toph stared at the bag suspiciously; some thing must be up, Zuko would have some other motive as to giving her a bag of sweets. During Toph's self review time, she opened the bag to find another note inside. 'Hey Brat, if you're suspicious then don't eat the candy. I've done nothing to it, but suit yourself. -The Pervert'

Toph disreguarded the note and began to unwrap the candy. They were different kinds of candy; some even foreign but all delicious and a balance with sweet and bitter.

_At least he has good taste..._Toph thought as she concentrated better on the seventh book from one of the stacks as she was slowly melting the chocolate in her mouth.

* * *

"Guys, I'm fucking tired" Toph groaned as she collapsed onto her desk face down.

"Insane princess lessons, _Hwangtaeja-bi_?" Song said poking at Toph's head.

"I'm alive...quit poking me.I'm an in training one." Toph mumbled with her head still down.

"Well you are such a 'filial daughter' Toph" Katara said rubbing her back.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just have to keep on chanting that its for my parents and the little loser to live decently again." Toph groaned as she lifted her head off the desk.

Toph's lessons ended around 6 o'clock at night; they gave her dinner, helped her changed back to her normal clothes, and drove her home. Toph came home around 8 o'clock, which then she had to shower and do the home work that school assigned which she finished a majority of it at 12:30, leaving the rest for study hall.

Her day went on with regular classes-lunch-classes routine with smidges of hate from the female population, and surprisingly no harassment from prince plastic all day.

_Where is that snooty prick any ways?_ Toph wondered as she walked towards her last and favorite class; bending. Donning on the standard black shorts and corresponding color to element (green in Toph's case) tank top, Toph entered the arena bare footed and without her glasses.

"ALRIGHT! WHOSE ASS AM I KICKING TODAY?" Toph screamed out confidently at the bending student body as she entered the arena; today was an integrate class, which meant that that class was going to be interesting. Almost every one huddled back into some corner to avoid her, only those who were new, insane or extremely confident and/or competent dared to face the Toph the "blind bandit". Toph had permanently left her mark on the student body back in 3rd grade, where a sexist earth bending coach had irked Toph so much that she challenged him to a battle; he, not taking her seriously, ended up in the emergency room while Toph ended in detention, while other girls in the class cheered her on. Toph Bei Fong was a nice, fair, and fun girl, but she was not one to mess with. "No takers? Oh, come one guys, whose gutsy enough to face a delica-"

"I challenge you Toph Bei Fong" a voice rang out from the crowd. Heads turned towards the crazy sucker; that sucker was Prince Zuko. Toph turned towards him with a smirk.

"Let's get this going princey" Toph said cracking her knuckles.

"Alright, but lets make this interesting" Zuko said entering the center of the arena, putting down his things then assuming his stance.

"How so?"

"The loser would have to grant the winner 5 wishes, whatever they may be."  
"Tempting. Alright, I accept. Get ready to grant me 5 wishes, Zuko" Toph said assuming into her stance.

Let the fight begin.

* * *

_H__anbok-_ (referencing girl's version) It is essentially traditional Korean garb that consists of two parts; the _jeogori_ and the _chima_. The fabric and color depends on your class; for Toph case in going into the royal family, she wears what royals would wear (expensive and colorful material).

_Daenggi - _A large ribbon tied to hair that is styled into one long single braid. (Only unmarried women wears this hair style)

_Baetssi daenggi -_ A hair accessory wore on the top of the head. Baetssi daenggi can be made of thin, cloth-like material or soft material like cotton, stuffed into colored cloth. The could also be decorated with jewels and such.

_Cheopji- _Small elaborate hair pins on the sides of the hair (ones I'm referring that Toph is wearing), or a small hair accessory worn on the top of the head but is made out of metal (unlike the _Baetssi daenggi_).

_Jeogori -_ Blouse-like upper part of the _hanbok_. It is essentially a jacket that covers the arms and upper part of the body. From the looks of it, it stops around the rib area.

___Chima -_ A skirt that covers up to a girl's chest all the way down to her feet (for upper class people). This goes under the _jeogori_.

___Unhye -_ Women's shoes made from silk and usually decorate with cloud shapes. They are usually quite pricey.

_Hwangtaeja-bi-_the crown princess (consort) of Empire, with the style of Her Imperial Highness.

(A/N): I'm not Korean but I do admire their traditional garb. Sources for the information are from wikipedia, and thetalkingcupboard at wordpress. If I'm butchering your culture or the culture you're bananas over in some shape or form, please correct me as to change it.

On another note, I hope I didn't make them too OOC and can't wait for the fight. (I'm trying to restrain myself from going fast pace. Oh boy.)

Well, you know what to do: (reviews would encourage me to bust out another chapter :D, think about it)

Review, comment, critique, question.


	4. Between a floor and a hot thing

(A/N): Finally updated. I'm sincerely sorry for the 2 month delay but...dorming/getting used to college life is painful for a home body such as myself. Well, it is finally here. Enjoy.

* * *

On the referee's whistle Zuko punched out bursts of flames, jumped up and twisted himself while shooting flames from his feet. Toph's hands were up, her senses feeling out her surrounding; quickly she felt the heat in the air and bent up a column of earth to block the fiery attack. Toph felt his vibration from a couple of feet away as he landed and charged towards her to deal another couple of blows; with a smirk, Toph sent up a wall of earth to cover her as she punched a controlled fissure on the path of where Zuko's foot would land. Zuko was caught off guard as the fissure turned his foot's direction; recovering from the brief shock, he used his other foot to flip over trailing another burst of fiery flames toward Toph. Toph kicked out her foot onto the earth, kicking up blocks of stone and pelted them towards Zuko's direction; she felt a body of heat nearing her as she ran towards Zuko's direction, quickly as she ran she slid down on her knees and bent backwards as to avoid the flames. Popping back up on her feet, Toph hurled another set of rocks.

"You hot yet, Toph?" Zuko called out, sweating from exertion.

"Been hot, Sparky." Toph replied, a sweaty mess with a menacing grin on her face before she then gave a swift stomp on the ground, sending particles of dust into the air, visually impairing Zuko for the time being. Despite his impaired state, Zuko threw a ball of flame from where he last heard her from.  
"Playing dirty, Bei Fong?" he said, in stance as he walked around the arena blindly.  
"More like a healthy coating of Earth, if you ask me." He heard right near the shell of his ear while her hand gripped the back of his shoulder tightly; he then aimed another flame to find his fists engulfed in two columns of earth, and Toph quickly engulfed in the earth beneath his feet. Quickly he blasted the earth gloves off as the majority of the particles cleared from the air, then seeing Toph, he ran towards her, dodging whatever she threw at him and tackled her, pinning her underneath him. Zuko felt Toph's well-developed body squirm against him, causing very hormonally driven thoughts to race around in his head as well as blood rushing south before being flipped over and pinned by her lithe form._ Don't think about it, don't think about it...Damn._ Zuko thought, then felt Toph's head lift up, eyes widen with facial features that first displayed pure shock, and then her eyes narrowed at him, glaring daggers at the all too physically happy male beneath her.

"I felt that" Toph said menacingly, blushing from either embarrassment, hate and/or annoyance. Zuko took that pause of embarrassment to pin her back to the floor. Not one for being victim, Toph wrestled him back to being pinned. _You're not going to win so easily_ Zuko thought, and with that he pinned her over and kept her underneath him before the whistle blew. Zuko won. Even though both heard the whistle, Toph wasn't going to let this prissy prince besmirch her reputation; as the prince kept her pinned underneath him, Toph raised her head off the ground and whispered into his ear; "please, harder". Zuko loosened his grip on her for a moment, in which Toph took advantage of and pinned the prince underneath her; in the next moments both Toph and Zuko were rolling around the arena, both struggling for dominance in this long since ended battle. Both parties slapped faces, tugged at each other's hair, and slammed each other onto the arena floor.

"Alright, alright! Break it up! Break it up! Zuko won. We can't spend any more time on just one battle. Go clean up you two love birds. Not together." a coach called out, quickly striding towards the tussling two, and broke them apart.

"Fine, he wins. And Coach...just no, hell to the no. While we're on this topic, go flush your brain out of the gutter. Gods." Toph huffed angrily, and then stomped back to the girl's locker room.

"Really coach? Never with that mess of a woma-...not so soon." Zuko first angrily huffed then turned to uphold his image, flashing a charming smile before walking off to the boy's locker room.

After cleaning themselves off, they were once again whisked away to the palace to continue the afternoon routine in silence; to change their clothes then off to their individual activities. Zuko, after an hour being the guest of honor at a museum opening finally plopped down into his the chair in his study and began to do his homework.  
"Five wishes." he heard a presence said behind him. The said presence leaned onto the back of his leather office chair.

"You owe me five, if I could recall." Zuko said, dropping his pen. "So what do I owe the pleasure of you sneaking into my study, Toph?"

"Just need a place to hide" Toph said nonchalantly, propping up her feet on his desk as she sat in a chair she pulled up. "And I'm bored."

"Well, I'm not your entertainment venue, Miss Bei Fong, especially after your un-sportsman like conduct after I've beaten you." Zuko said while reading a stack of documents. "You might not want to hide from your maids; you really need the education after you've acted today."

"Haha, very funny hotpants." Toph said with a frown, "I assume, however, that you enjoyed a part of the fight. You were quite 'happy'."

Zuko froze in place, cleared his throat, and then calmly faced the window. "LADY MIN, THE CROWN PRINCESS IS IN THE CROWN PRINCE'S OFFICE!"

"Shut up, Sparky!" Toph quickly jumped onto his lap, and clamped her hands over his mouth.

"Princess! We must get back to your lessons. This kind of behavior is unacceptab..." Lady Min froze at the sight. Lady Min then briskly walked up towards Toph, pulled her off of Zuko, and bowed deeply. "Death to myself your majesty for not instilling princess-in-training Toph the etiquettes of the court."

"It is quite fine, however, give her frequent reviews as to ensure this does not happen again." Zuko instructed.

"Yes, your majesty. Thank you for your mercy. Death to my tongue but the Great Queen is in charge of her education."

"Very well, just return her to her studies."

"Yes, your majesty." Lady Min, still bowing, back pedaled out of the room with her hand on Toph's elbow. "Now, Miss Bei Fong..."

"Going back Lady Min. Don't worry, I won't do this again." Toph said exasperated as they walked back. _We'll finish this later._

**=Three Months and three weeks later=**

"Guys, where are you taking me?" Toph asked as Suki and Song carried her throughout the school using an arm bench and blindfolds.

"Somewhere…" Suki trailed off as they hauled her through different hallways.

"…alright…but just so you guys know, this is the last time I'm going to let you guys do this to me." Toph said uneasily, gripping their shoulders for dear life. These few months have been exhausting; rituals, ceremonies, every single detail on etiquette had been hammered into her skull, even the old classical speech had been injected into her mind, What didn't help was that Zuko acted bi-polar towards her and would not tell her his five wishes, and her soon-to-be sister-in-law was an untrustworthy, misleading bitch who aimed to have her make as many mistakes as possible, especially making them very public with Queen Ursa and the elders.

"Ouch, Toph; relax, we're not going to throw you off the building." Suki grunted as she felt finger nails digging into her flesh.

Toph felt herself being lowered back onto the sweet earth and then spun around; she heard quiet murmurings.

"Surprise! Congratulations Crown Princess!" Toph heard as the blind fold was yanked off, and sugar spun flowers and mini groom and bride cake with sparkler candles were placed in front of her.

"Ms. Jun…guys…what's all this for…"

"Enjoy this, Princess. It's the only time you can make fun of me for being an old maid." Ms. Jun said, giving her a smirk as she handed a plastic knife to Toph. It had finally hit her that she was going to get married in a week.  
**  
**

* * *

"You were that bored to marry someone you don't know?" Mai droned as she sat next to him during break.

"I did ask you, but you declined, and the royal family can't wait any longer or make any other changes." Zuko said gruffly, and then started to drink his water slowly.

"I never expected you to actually go through with it…"

"I must say that you're too late to change your mind. Everything has been settled, and there is nothing you can do about it. Besides, I don't want anyone I like to be trapped in that palace. "

"I see." Mai said monotonously, and then went back to her classroom.  
Mai sat down, her eyes showing discomfort at the sickening upcoming date, her body language forever stoic and un-phased.

"So, you talked to Zuzu? Were you able to say your last good byes? After all, he is going to get married to that little Earth bending peasant." Azula said coolly as she sat down next to Mai.

"What should I do Azula?" Mai finally spoke after a moment of silence.

"This is completely out of your control, Mai. But, I think I can do something to Zuko to change his mind, as well as breaking that little Earth peasant for her impudence." Azula muttered, her words sharper than Mai's knives, and full of ill intent on her future sister-in-law. "Don't worry Mai; soon Zuko and you will be sneaking around Ember Island before you know it."

**-****1 week later-**

_Damn this thing weighs at least five kilos_ Toph thought as she attempted to keep her head from dipping, as her ladies in waiting and personal maids helped her steady her arms down the narrow hallway. Toph has been pulled, compressed, massaged, primped, pampered, prepped, picked at, and washed to every point possible on a human body; they prepped her to the point of no longer biting her tongue to "gently" earth bend the woman scrapping her precious feet, and giving out a cry of horror to the maid who was inching too high above the knee. Toph dressed the part of a Traditional Royal Bride; Toph's hair was braided and pinned up into a bun underneath the giant hat-like wig decorated with clusters of the royal jewels on three points of the wig, along with phoenixes decorating each tip strapped to her chin. The robes consisted of many layers and patterns of phoenixes and rivers of red silk with a thick, gold threaded belt wrapped around her rib area, and sleeves that were a yard and a half longer than where her hands ended. Her posture was straight as her arms made a horizontal line as she held a ceremonial piece with maids at each elbow to support her in this graceful, nationwide event. For the day, Toph was given contact lenses, and had light make-up done on her face. As she finally reached the end of the hallway, to her right is the room where the ceremony is to be held. Standing in front of the priest and seat cushion was Zuko, dressed in ceremonial robes as well; Zuko dressed in silk robes a few shades darker than Tophs' with patterns of dragons and mountains, his hair was gathered into a top knot, and decorated with the flame-royal golden head piece. Through this lengthy ceremony vows were made, drinks were exchanged, gifts were given, a parade procession took place, blessings were received, and offerings were presented to/from the parents, elders, government officials and dead ancestors; by the end of the day Toph and Zuko both changed their outfits, and were ushered into a room guarded outside by maids who were dressed in ceremonial garbs as well.  
"Zuko…why are we being herded into a room for…?" Toph asked exhausted as she sat down in a corner of the room, rubbing her neck; she now wore an even more elaborate _hanbok_ compared to the one during her training, but less extravagant than her wedding dress. The _chima_ had even more elaborate gold and silver leafing on red silk, the _jeogori_ had gold and silver leafing around the collar, was dark green, and had a very slight transparent look in a certain light. Her hair was kept in a braided bun with a golden phoenix _binyeo_ stuck through it, and a badger -mole _cheopji_ placed on the front, top-center of her hairline.  
"You don't understand this?" Zuko, dressed in a regular suit and tie, scoffed and then gulped down the contents of a tea cup as he pointed to the small tables of food, untouched wines, one of the two cups of medicine, and the laid out futon on the ground. "We are expected to eat dinner, get drugged by 'medicinal' tea, and in our drunken/drugged state, we somehow are going to get tab A into slot B, as well as to 'keep each other warm'." Zuko then gave his best salacious grin towards her; his cup was emptied . Toph's eyes widened, her brows furrowed as she glared at him intently _the idiot drank the damn thing; crap_. "You wish." Toph uttered, moving even more away from Zuko. Zuko soon noticed, and began to crawl closer to Toph, his face inches away from hers, still smiling; "Not really" Zuko raggedly breathed, still leaning ever so close to her as a blush of discomfort graced her face.  
"What are you doing?" Toph asked anxiously as Zuko came closer and closer as she tilted her upper body back until she was lying on the ground, with Zuko essentially hovering above her. Zuko remained silent.  
"Hey Asshole, what are you-"

* * *

_Binyeo_: A decorative hair piece that goes through a bun. Essentially a hair stick that is used for decorative purposes.

(A/N): I've finally made time to finish up this chapter. In truth I had a majority of it done in September but had to make time to add some accurate details I wanted in the story. I apologize for making every one wait. If you're wondering about some of the italicized words they are define in the last chapter or right above this note. On another note, what's Azula planning, and what's going to happen to Toph and Zuko in the _fun_ room? Well, more reviews could make more chapters. I edited it to have a better transition into the next chapter; on another note...should I go on with a lemon or...lime, orange, grapefruit? Opinions?  
I really appreciate the reviews, and hope for more. Thank you guys :).

Please Read and Review :)


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